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We will be going to the Birmingham beer festival and some Birmingham pubs this Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Next week we will be in Chertsey to go to Egham USC beer festival Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Plan is to go into London on Sunday and aim to try and get to Tap East, King William IV, Drum .. JDW, Olde Rose & Crown, Pembury Tavern, Cock Tavern, Clapton Hart & Bell.

Monday we move on to Cheltenham to have the caravan serviced on the Tuesday, and while it is there we will check out some pubs.

There are loads of pubs there with no reviews, but Ray will have to tow the caravan back to the site after it's service so we are just aiming for Jolly Brewmaster, Kemble Brewery Inn, Royal Union Bar & Grill, and the Strand from the Good Beer Guide as I won't be able to drink a lot on my own.

I'm off to Nottingham for a couple of days on Tuesday. Looking to tick off a few of the better pubs that I've not yet made it to (Hand and Heart, Lincolnshire Poacher, Organ Grinder) and also hope to check out the Navigation Brewery at the Trent Navigation. If I've got time, I'll head to Beeston as well for the Crown and Victoria. A handsome victory over Notts County would be a bonus.

I've got a free weekend on 3rd Nov and was hoping the FA Cup 1st round draw would present me with an interesting away day, but we got an uninspiring home tie against Dagenham, so I'll try and organise a crawl somewhere instead.

I'm off to Nottingham for a couple of days on Tuesday. Looking to tick off a few of the better pubs that I've not yet made it to (Hand and Heart, Lincolnshire Poacher, Organ Grinder) and also hope to check out the Navigation Brewery at the Trent Navigation. If I've got time, I'll head to Beeston as well for the Crown and Victoria. A handsome victory over Notts County would be a bonus.

I've got a free weekend on 3rd Nov and was hoping the FA Cup 1st round draw would present me with an interesting away day, but we got an uninspiring home tie against Dagenham, so I'll try and organise a crawl somewhere instead.

When in Beeston the Hop Pole and The Bar are worth a try,i have reviewed the Bar very recently.

Trent Navigation is well worth a go,i was in there before Notts County played Portsmouth and both sets of fans seemed to mix well.

From the Trent Navigation it is worth a shortish walk or quick bus ride into West Bridgeford (central avenue) the Test Match just past the main shopping area is well worth a go fantastic interia and a good choice of beers,then walk back past shops towards cricket ground the Monkey Tree will have some good beers on and just round the corner is the Stratford haven a Castle Rock house that is beer heaven.
If you then walk past the cricket ground there is the Trent Bridge Inn a Spoons house that is better than most,after that a very short walk takes you to the Southbank bar it is a sports bar but there is usually a decent local beer on,i really like this place,then a
When in Beeston the Hop Pole and The Bar are worth a try,i have reviewed the Bar very recently.

Trent Navigation is well worth a go,i was in there before Notts County played Portsmouth and both sets of fans seemed to mix well.

From the Trent Navigation it is worth a shortish walk or quick bus ride into West Bridgeford (central avenue) the Test Match just past the main shopping area is well worth a go fantastic interia and a good choice of beers,then walk back past shops towards cricket ground the Monkey Tree will have some good beers on and just round the corner is the Stratford haven a Castle Rock house that is beer heaven.
If you then walk past the cricket ground there is the Trent Bridge Inn a Spoons house that is better than most,after that a very short walk takes you to the Southbank bar it is a sports bar but there is usually a decent local beer on,i really like this place,then a quixk walk over trent bridge and you are within sight of Notts countys ground and the Trent Navigation.

Test Match: gordon road GK house but usually lots of local beers on,great interia
Monkey Tree:central avenue Modern but usually 3 decent beers on
Stratford Haven: just off central avenue Castle Rock loads of beers well worth a go
TBI:east side of trent bridge Spoons good choice of beers
Southbank Bar:next to trent bridge 3 beers usually 2 locals
Trent Navigation:Home brewery with most of their beers plus some guests

All of my reviews for these pubs stand and it is only around a 15 minute walk from the Test Match to the Trent Navigation

Thanks for the recommendations Al. I have got the Test Match, Stratford Haven and Southbank Bar on my long-list, but I was thinking of saving West Bridgford for a separate crawl, maybe next season, as there are still a lot of pubs in the town centre that I want to try out. I'll definately give the Trent Navigation a try though, as it's so close to Meadow Lane. Was hoping to visit the Globe as well, but I see that it has closed.

A colleague of mine recommended a place called 'Hotel Deux', which he said is walkable from the Lincolnshire Poacher and good for real ale and live music. It's not on this site, so I don't know if it's still going. Any ideas?

Off to Deacon Blue at the Roundhouse in a bit. Taken the afternoon off so will pick up a couple of new places on the way. Aiming to grab pics for places I forgot to do first time round so I can have a complete 'set' of colourful little icons for my London pubs (sad, eh?).

With a lot of jumping around it may be prudent to invest in a day-rover 'Kangaroo' ticket - £4. Covers you for train, tram & bus.

We're going next month and I plan jokers in Vic & Crown (Beeston), then was wondering how to whittle down others on the list when it was suggested that a Brewery Tap tour may be a different approach. A local pal suggested...

The Plough, Radford – Nottingham Brewery.
The Vat & Fiddle – Castle Rock Brewery.
The Trent Navigation - Navigation Brewery (Also good for other local brews).
The Organ Grinder – Blue Monkey Brewery.
The Fox & Crown Basford – Alcazar Brewery (never been here, you could get one up on me, easy access by tram from city centre).
The Roundhouse – Magpie Brewery (not actually a tap but good place to sample local brews).

Only the Basford pub would be a new tick for me, so that's deffo in! I thought Magpie did have a tap, virtually under County's ground?

A colleague of mine recommended a place called 'Hotel Deux', which he said is walkable from the Lincolnshire Poacher and good for real ale and live music. It's not on this site, so I don't know if it's still going. Any ideas?

Hotel Deux is still up and running but it has funny opening hours,it opens at 5 Mon-Fri and 6 Sat and Sun

It is about a 10 minute walk from the Poacher,carry on up mansfield road then go downhill with the forest of your left,when you get to the traffic islands turn left then head up sherwood rise it is on the first right turn,it is a former hotel and not really my sort of pub so i have not been in there yet but it does have locales on.